Castro’s Cuba was no place for a socialist like me

[bijou]

Neil Clark says that he went to Havana in search of a left-wing Utopia and discovered instead an island fortress of poverty, corruption and currency apartheid

It’s a country where the vast majority live in poverty, while a tiny, corrupt elite live in luxury. It’s a place where, 14 years after South Africa abolished apartheid, a form of it still operates. And it’s a country where you can be threatened with prison not just for criticising the country’s leadership, but also for querying a medical bill.

Welcome to Cuba, the ‘socialist’ paradise built by that great egalitarian Fidel Castro, who after 49 years at the helm has finally decided to hand over power — in the manner of a true democrat — to his brother Raúl.

My wife and I, as unreconstructed paleo-lefties who support Clause Four, free school meals and NHS dental provision, had long wanted to visit Castro’s Cuba. All the people whose views we respect had said that the Caribbean island was a progressive model whose policies on education and healthcare ought to be copied throughout the world. We went there last April desperately wanting to like the place — after all, if George W. Bush and other right-wing nasties hated Cuba so much, then the country must be on the right tracks.

But we returned home terribly disillusioned. Neither of us had been to a country which was so utterly decrepit.

Stay on the officially approved tourist trail round the newly renovated streets of ‘Old Havana’ and you’d get the impression that Cuba was a tropical version of Switzerland. There are smart restaurants, designer shops and modern hotels. Wander a few streets away, however, and you’ll witness scenes of incredible dereliction. Dilapidated buildings with wires hanging out, streets that haven’t been resurfaced for more than 50 years, balconies that look like they’re going to fall down at any minute. In my travels in the Middle East and Asia, I’ve certainly witnessed squalor, but nothing prepared me for the back streets of Havana.

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Interesting article by a socialist who saw for himself the bankruptcy and corruption of Castro's regime.

[DixieBelle]

LOL! I think it's funny that he held such illusions in the first place. Glad to know he got them shot down.

[Lord Undies]

In the end, the stupid socialist didn't learn anything about the horrors of socialism.  He learned that Castro isn't the sweetheart he was lead to believe.  Socialism STILL hasn't been done right.  This lefty crap-man would again applaud another try and believe the lies for another fifty years.

[Bondai]

Now would be a good time to open the flood gates of free trade and bring down Fidel's little sand castle.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Now would be a good time to open the flood gates of free trade and bring down Fidel's little sand castle.

Indeed.

[Chris_]

Furious at being taken for a ride, my wife and I refused to pay and headed back to our room. But on trying to check out of the hotel later that morning, we were astonished to be told by the receptionist that if we did not settle the medical bill, she would ‘call state security’ and we would be arrested. We would not be allowed out of the country — ‘state security’ would apprehend us at the airport. The ‘doctor’ then reappeared to say that the rate — which had been set in stone — was after all negotiable, and that he’d accept £25. Forced into the corner and threatened with a night (at least) in a Cuban jail, we reluctantly paid up. ‘It’s nothing more than theft,’ I said to the ‘doctor’ as I handed over the money. ‘It doesn’t go to me,’ was his response. ‘It goes to the state.’

If the money from such scams really did go to the state — and towards improving the lot of the Cuban people — I wouldn’t have been so upset. But I strongly suspect that a share of my £25 will go towards the next fleet of BMWs for Castro’s cronies.

What an idiot.  I'm glad he got scammed out of his money.

[Zeus]

without governmental & economic reforms free trade will only engorge the coffers of the Regime. Will do little for the Cuban people. Could possibly spark a revolution but once a people have been beaten into conformity & complacency it's hard to get anyone to stand up for themselves.

[Tess Anderson]

In the end, the stupid socialist didn't learn anything about the horrors of socialism.  He learned that Castro isn't the sweetheart he was lead to believe.  Socialism STILL hasn't been done right.  This lefty crap-man would again applaud another try and believe the lies for another fifty years.

I'm afraid you're right, this self-described "paleo-socialist" only thinks socialism failed in Cuba, but in Cuba only. I think he should go visit another socialist paradise and report back - North Korea, Venezula, or China?

[Chris_]

In the end, the stupid socialist didn't learn anything about the horrors of socialism.  He learned that Castro isn't the sweetheart he was lead to believe.  Socialism STILL hasn't been done right.  This lefty crap-man would again applaud another try and believe the lies for another fifty years.

I'm afraid you're right, this self-described "paleo-socialist" only thinks socialism failed in Cuba, but in Cuba only. I think he should go visit another socialist paradise and report back - North Korea, Venezula, or China?

I'm guessing dumbass has his next vacation planned for Zimbabwe. 

[Chris_]

What's his DU name?